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Tuesday, Jun 7, 2005, 6:45 pm

Brain candy

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Well, slap my ass and call me a bad feminist, but I really kind of like this new UPN show, "A Bad Girl's Guide."

I know, I know--it's got all the crappy grrl power trappings that we're supposed to all be immune to at this point, and yes, it seems like a lower-rent version of "Sex and the City," so 2 seasons ago...but it's actually taking funny jabs at the advertising industry. And it's got blatant pot-smoking and edgy STD jokes on in prime time. And Jenny McCarthy has honed obnoxious to a fine point that's just plain cheerful to watch.

Yeah, the characters are shallow and conventionally attractive, and the innuendos are juvenile. So sue me--I can't spend every waking moment thinking about global warming or the Iraq quagmire. If you can't either, check it out.

Jessica Clark is a writer, editor and researcher, with more than 15 years of experience spanning commercial, educational, independent and public media production. Currently she is the Research Director for American University’s Center for Social Media. She also writes a monthly column for PBS’ MediaShift on new directions in public media. She is the author, with Tracy Van Slyke, of Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (2010, New Press).

More by Jessica Clark

The last really worthwhile show on tv was Buffy the Vampire Slayer. My problem isn’t puritanism, it’s good taste.

-----Posted by Thalia on 2005-06-23 12:04:57

Thalia - you are just an old-time New England Puritan - don`t enjoy anything, it might be bad for you.

Posted by rusty on 2005-06-18 09:14:09

Jess,

Do you honestly think they’re gonna keep up with the scraps of red meat they threw you (advertising jokes)?

Posted by tw on 2005-06-14 11:59:23

I agree with Thalia. I know it’s good that we see more and more women in positions of power on TV, but if they have to be either totally serious and determined (Grey’s Anatomy or Law and Order) or totally “look at me my life’s so quirky and up and down that I am gonna make sex jokes and go off my diet” then I am not going to watch. And I don’t.

Posted by tw on 2005-06-14 11:57:15

That’s like being fed a shit sandwich and complimenting the bread.

Posted by thalia on 2005-06-10 13:41:59

True enough generally—but there are a few gems. Law and Order: Trial by Jury has an excellent, mostly female cast who play strong female characters dealing with current issues. Grey’s Anatomy has offered up some interesting storylines about female doctors coming of age, balancing sexuality with career concerns, and managing issues of pregnancy and caretaking. And while Crossing Jordan is generally pretty goofy, Jordan herself is interesting: commitment-phobic, troubled, rebellious and complex.

Posted by Jessica Clark on 2005-06-09 21:18:49

How many times can the excuse of ” guilty pleasure” be used before people wake up to the fact the majority of our popular culture is “guilty pleasures” people keep making excuses for?

I enjoy a joke, satire and irony, but it seems like everything around me is jokes, satire and irony to the point it’s difficult to find much else without explicitly looking for it. So Ally McBeal was a guilty pleasure, as are all reality shows, Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, American Idol, etc. Guilty pleasures aren’t bad until you look up and realize there’s nothing offered for women in popular culture that isn’t a joke, a satire, ironic or otherwise junk food media.

Posted by Thalia on 2005-06-09 13:08:48

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